To Misty: A Green Backpack
by EspeonEefi
Summary: A short angsty fanfic about a one- (two-?) sided love that never was fulfilled


To Misty: A Green Backpack

To Misty: A Green Backpack  
A Short Pokemon Fan Fiction by Tokumeinohito

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Misty Kasumi Waterflower Slate lived a happy life.

At sixteen, she had returned to Cerulean to try to restore some honor  
to the floundering Cascade Badge. At the same time, Brock had returned to  
Pewter to help his father maintain the Slate gym. They continued dating  
for two years before Brock finally popped the big question. Misty  
Waterflower happily became Misty Slate on a fine June day in the most  
picture-perfect wedding ever.

As leaders of two of the most quickly rising gyms in Kanto, Brock and  
Misty were able to build a good life as a couple. They built a nice house  
south of Mt. Moon for themselves, and less than a year later, Misty gave  
birth to twins--one boy and one girl.

Now the kids were each five years old, and the Pewter and Cerulean Gyms  
routinely rivaled each other for the title of the best gym in the Pokemon  
League. Brock had opened a small breeding center on the side, which was  
also doing quite well. Though she wasn't living a luxurious life, most  
would say that she had it made at twenty-four.

There was only one blemish in her perfect life: Ash.  
___________________________________________________________________________

He wasn't actually doing anything to aggravate Misty; in fact, she  
hadn't seen him in person since that day eight long years ago. No, the way  
that Ash had become a wound that just would not heal was through her mind.

Eight long years ago...

She had been sixteen and had just bloomed into quite the Waterflower.  
Brock's hormones had finally settled down at twenty, and he had become  
content to wait for the right person to come along. However, he had found  
that person right under his nose, as Misty started to grow into a young  
lady. They had started dating, with Ash's blessings, and soon, they were  
the happiest couple under the sun.

Then, one morning, Ash left. Misty had not even been able to say  
goodbye. All that was left was a shakily written, slightly tear-stained  
letter...  
___________________________________________________________________________

Dear Misty and Brock,  
Wow, these past four months have been quite something, don't you think?  
Each day has gotten brighter and brighter with love blooming before my very  
eyes! Well, it's been four months and it seems that this relationship is  
trying to go somewhere, except I am holding it back. But I'll be a third  
wheel no longer, and I shall be gone this morning to let your love go to  
even greater heights! I hope that you will continue on happily, and one  
day get married; there could not be a better match made in heaven.

With the fondest blessings,  
Ash Satoshi Ketchum

P.S. I'll send you the bike for a wedding present!  
___________________________________________________________________________

That day marked a major turning point for Misty. Over Brock's minor  
objections, Misty decided that since Ash apparently didn't want to have  
anything to do with her, she wasn't going to have anything to do with Ash.  
She resolved to forge a new life with Brock as the Cerulean City Gym leader  
and to forget about Ash...about the bike...about the memories and the good  
times.

She stayed true to her promise, returning to Cerulean, marrying Brock,  
creating a family. And the fact that Ash decided to keep a low profile for  
the next few years also helped her forget about him. But, every once in a  
while, a memory, a good time with Ash, would sneak up on her when she would  
least expect it, and would leave a cloud hanging over her usually cheerful  
attitude.

Then, over a span of the past year, in the most amazing show of Pokemon  
talent and dominance, Ash swept through in succession the Pokemon League,  
the Orange League, and the Johto League. His name and face had started  
popping up all over the place, and Misty couldn't take it. She slowly but  
surely stopped keeping up with current events, just to stop from seeing his  
face, still as cute a ever, pop up on the television or in the newspaper or  
in a magazine or everywhere. In fact, she didn't even know that he had won  
the Johto League until a package had come in the mail two weeks ago...  
___________________________________________________________________________

Two weeks ago, a medium-sized package had arrived at her house. In it  
were a green backpack and a short, terse, impersonal letter from some law  
firm in Viridian...

Mrs. Misty Kasumi Waterflower Slate:  
On February 14, Ashton Satoshi Ketchum--Pokemon, Orange, and Johto  
League Champion--died in a cave-in while exploring the Unknown Dungeon at  
the age of twenty-one. In his will, he left the enclosed backpack to you.  
___________________________________________________________________________

Immediately after she had read the letter, she stuffed the backpack,  
letter, box, and all into a dark corner in a closet somewhere and tried to  
forget about it--to put it out of her mind as she had the owner years  
before.

But just as its owner had before, the backpack and its arrival cast a  
noticeable shadow over Misty's usually happy demeanor. Finally, Brock had  
been able to pry out what was bothering her and had convinced her to bring  
some closure to it all by actually looking through the backpack.

Now, she was sitting in her living room with the contents of the  
backpack laid out in front of her. There was the usual traveling and  
spelunking equipment. Then there were seven Pokeballs, one with a tiny  
lightning bolt on it, another colored blue. Nothing really unusual there.  
Then there was a Cascade Badge. There was a tattered, faded picture of a  
black-haired boy and a red-haired girl both in kimonos seemingly enjoying  
themselves dancing. Finally, a slightly crumpled plain white envelope that  
said nothing but "To Misty". She had sat there for the past ten minutes,  
trying to work up the courage to open the envelope.

Brock had decided to drop down in the living room again to check up on  
her, and found her in that state. He finally was able to coax her to open  
the envelope.

Out spilled a wad of assorted paper bills and a letter, which Misty  
shakily took up and read. She noted that it was dated about a year  
earlier...  
___________________________________________________________________________

Dearest Misty,  
I don't know why I'm even writing this letter, or doing this in my  
will. What am I thinking...you're a married woman with two kids and here I  
am, poor rejected Ash, still trying to steal your heart.

Well, there, I said it. I loved you all those eight years ago, and I  
love you still. I don't think that you'll ever know how much your dating  
Brock hurt me, but I knew that as long as you were happy, my heart could  
wait. I watched for four months, always wishing you two the best of luck  
on the outside, slowly tearing myself apart on the inside. By the time I  
left you two, I was nothing but an empty shell.

I tried to forget about you, to move on, but I just couldn't. For a  
while, something about every single waking moment reminded me about you.  
You even invaded my dreams, sometimes in a good way, but many times in a  
nightmarish way. Many times, the friendship of my Pokemon, especially  
Pikachu, was all that kept me from calling it quits right then.

After a year, I was finally able to slowly cope with life after you.  
However, I still trained a Tentacool extensively in hopes that one day you  
would break up with Brock, and I might get a chance and finally pop the big  
question and give you the best-trained Tentacruel in the world as an  
engagement present. But I guess (and probably subconsciously knew) that  
wasn't destined to happen.

I was there on your wedding day. I don't know why exactly I went, but  
I did. I hid in the shadows in the back for most of the service. Seeing  
you go up the aisle in that gorgeous white dress...you looked like the most  
delicate, beautiful angel ever produced by heaven. Then, I saw how happy  
you were as you got married to Brock and became Misty Slate, instead of  
Misty Ketchum, and I knew that even if I could do something to ruin your  
perfect union, I wouldn't because you were happy and that was all that  
mattered. Since I hadn't been able to save up fast enough, I didn't have a  
bike for you, but I did bring a water stone and a moon stone and I left  
them as I quietly slipped out of the area.

Did you know I came by to visit you once? I was the challenger in the  
Pokemon League cap who used a Butterfree and a Pidgeotto to win but refused  
the badge. I dyed my hair blond and convinced Pikachu to get in his  
Pokeball for once, since I didn't think that I could take a face-to-face  
meeting if you actually knew who I was. I stayed behind to play a little  
with Junior and Mary a bit. Those kids of yours were quite cute, and I  
hope they become as successful as their mother and father.

It was then that it finally really sunk in that the love I held would  
forever be unrequited, as it should be. That was a week ago. Now I'm  
writing this letter as a person who is trying to let go of a crush from  
seven years ago, who knows that that crush will never blossom into mutual  
love, but who just can't let go.

If you're reading this, I've probably died. Maybe it will be by  
accident, maybe it will be forced, maybe it will be natural...I don't know.  
All I know is that I hope that this doesn't change in any way your  
relationship with Brock. I know that that's wishful thinking from a  
lovelorn soul who can't move on from first love that you might have ever  
harbored any feelings for me, but I want you to understand that I am just  
trying to find some kind of closure for myself by doing this.

Well, I've dumped my emotions for long enough. I'm going to bring my  
letter to a close soon. But first, explanations of what I hope you'll find  
in my backpack. There should be seven Pokeballs. Recently, in my travels,  
I came upon my old Butterfree. Having brought my first six back together,  
I decided to release Muk and Kingler. (Muk actually decided to stay on  
with Professor Oak.) Now I've decided just to use these six: Butterfree,  
Pidgeotto, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charizard, and Pikachu. Since all of these  
Pokemon were the most comfortable with you and Brock at the beginning of my  
journey, I have decided to leave them to you. I am sure that you will  
treat them well. If I wasn't able to get them back into their Pokeballs  
and into my backpack in time, you can ask Professor Oak for them. I think  
that he'd be glad to give them to you if you tell him the reason. In  
addition, in the blue Pokeball is the Tentacruel that you always wanted.  
I've worked hard to train that Pokemon, and I hope that you get along with  
him very well.

The Cascade Badge I won from you is also probably in there, along with  
a picture of you and me at the summer festival on Maiden's Peak. These are  
the only mementos that I have of you, and I have kept and probably will  
keep them with me to help me remember you.

Finally, there is the money in this envelope. I've been saving slowly  
from day one to get you your new bike, and I finally just recently gotten  
to my target amount. I hope that this will cover the cost of any new bike  
that you want. Well, I told you I was good for it, didn't I? I just hope  
that inflation doesn't drive the price up too high.

Sigh, however funny I try to be, I just can't hold back my tears. I'm  
writing this in an attempt to close one chapter in my life, and although  
much of it was bitter and depressing, I will never forget the best part of  
my life: the time I spent with you.

With the best and final regards,  
Ashton Satoshi Ketchum  
___________________________________________________________________________

As Misty read the letter, her tears joined those that had blurred the  
ink a year earlier. Finally, as she finished, she dropped the letter  
beside the lovingly collected money for the best custom bike in the world,  
and she fell into her husband's comforting hug, knowing also that this  
might be a close for an important chapter of her life as well.

===========================================================================

Author's Notes

Wow! I thought up the idea of Misty going through Ash's backpack which  
he had left her in his final will as I was going to bed one night, and have  
felt so inspired that I just had to write this little angst-filled  
(hopefully) fanfic. It feels good to write off an inspiration, especially  
if you suffer from permanent writer's block. ^_^

Anyways, I hope that you felt rewarded for the time you wasted reading  
this melodramatic foray into human emotions. I'm pretty sure the central  
idea (the final letter from Ash) is mine, though you never know,  
considering the amount of fan fiction that I've read. There are probably  
many influences from many different sources, too. Nonetheless, the long  
time it took to write this little piece of sadness was mine, so please tell  
me what you think, even a simple "I liked it" or "I hated it", either  
through the email below or (for those of you on FanFiction.Net) through the  
review box even further below. Thanks.

Feedback goes to tokumeinohito@yahoo.com  
All fan fiction by Tokumeinohito is archived at  
http://www.geocities.com/tokumeinohito/

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Disclaimer

In the United States, Pokemon and its affiliated characters, creatures,  
machines, and concepts are copyrighted and/or licensed by Nintendo of  
America; Game Freak; Creatures, Inc.; 4Kids Productions; and many others,  
none of whom the author is affiliated with. This fan fiction is not for  
profit and is not intended in any way to be harmful to the above-mentioned  
companies.

This fan fiction was first released on July 4, 2001.


End file.
